Trim strip



Feb. 21, R, E, MCCLELLAN TRIM STRIP Filed Sept. 8, 1958 mit UnitedStates Patent() TRIlVI STRIP Ralph E. McClellan, Toledo, Ohio, assignorto The Meilink Steel Safe Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of OhioFiled Sept. 8, 1958, Ser. No. 759,751

Claims. (Cl. 16-148) This invention relates to a trim strip for a door,and more particularly it deals with a trim strip adapted to be attachedby means of one or more clips to the edge of an article, such as forexample a safe door, in order to at least partially conceal partsthereof as well as to enhance or augment the appearance of the safe.

Trim Strips of various kinds have been maunfactured for numerousindustries and for many applications, a few of which may includerefrigerators, cabinets,.oice equipment, furniture, etc. However, doorsof safes or the like having heavy walls have not lent themselves tooeasily to such decorative treatment, and such attempts have been limitedto attachment of plates, escutcheons, etc., by other and more costlymeans.

Itis an object of this invention to produce an efficient, simple,effective, economic, protective and decorative trim strip for a doorltogether with concealed means for attaching it thereon.

It is another object to provide a trim strip which may be supportedalong one or' its edges by abutment against a hinge plate or leaf fixedto the door.

It is another object to provide a trim strip which may serve to at leastpartially conceal the hinge plate by which it is supported.

It is still a further object to provide a concealed spring vWire clipmeans for quickly and removably securing such a trim strip.

It is still a further object to provide a trim strip for a safe doorwhich when attached in accordance with this disclosure may serve also toconceal at least in part the normally wide gap existing in most safes atthe periphery of the doors thereof.

In general, this invention comprises in combination, a decorative andcrack sealing plate or strip having smooth parallel rearwardly inturnededge portions along its sides; a support plate such as the leaf of ahinge lying at least partially within the said edge portions andabutting one of said edges; a notch in one of the sides of thedecorative plate or strip to provide access to the interior thereof byand for the support plate therein; and a wire clip element concealedwithin the plate or strip and spanning the said notch therein, said clipelement being concealed also behind the support plate and adapted toresiliently abut the support plate along an edge opposite to thepreviously mentioned abutted edge, whereby the plate or Strip may beremovably aixed to the support plate.

The particular mode of application or attachment of the decorative plateor strip disclosed herein may be utilized also in the attachment ofother devices, including signs, signals, trays, panels, frames, borders,etc.

The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention andthe manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the inventionitself will be understood best by reference to the following descriptionof an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational View of a safe showing the use 2,972,165Patented Feb. 21, 1961 of decorative trim strips as they may be appliedto the hinged sides of the doors of the safe in accordance with thisdisclosure;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail sectional view taken along theline II-ll on Fig. 1, showing the hinge construction and the manner ofmounting the trim strip thereon;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the parts shown inFig. 2 with a part broken away to more clearly show the resilient wirefastener means for holding the strip in place and the concealed locationof said Wire;

Fig. 4 is an elevational detail view in full lines of an unexedresilient wire clip used to maintain support of the trim strip and indotted lines in its exed or strip holding condition as shown in Figs. 2and 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary isometric view similar to Fig. 3, showing one ofthe hinges of a safe door and the arrangementof the trim strip parts intheir usual relationship as assembled on the leaf of said hinge on thedoor.

Referring first to Fig. l, in the usual manner of manufacture, a safe,or cabinet of similar character, may comprise a main body portion 10having side walls 11, upper and lower walls 12, a rear wall (not shown)and a base member 13 which may or may not be fitted with wheels 14 tofacilitate occasional movement of the safe. A liner 15 (see Fig. 2)within the walls 11, 12 may define an interior storage chamber withinthe safe, which chamber may ordinarily be closed by means of doors 16arranged to swing on hinges 18 mounted on the side Walls 11. The doors16 may be provided with bolt operating handles 2i), and a locking dial22 for securing the doors of the safe against unauthorized opening.

The hinges 18 may be constructed in the ordinary way with one leaf orhinge plate 18a (see Fig. 2) being welded to an inturned flange or edge11a of the side wall 11 or corner angle frame member, and similarlyanother leaf or plate lb may be welded to the faces of the doors 16, theleaf plates 18h being formed with offset portions 18c'to allow the doors16 to be set at least flush and preferably slightly inwardly from theprojected frontal surface of the safe as defined by the outer surface ofthe flanged wall construction 11a of the safe. These offset portions 18epermit or provide access for positioning a resilient spring wire stripfastening element 25, to be described more fully hereinafter. The hingeplate 1812 also may be formed with a chamfered edge 18d (see Figs. 2 and5) to assist in afxing the protective and decorative plate or strip 39thereto.

One of the main features of this invention resides in the manner oftreating or adding a decorative element or trim strip 30 to an otherwiseordinary and plain appearing frontal face on a safe 1i), the main partsof which safe may consist of a pair of heavy at steel plate doors 16,carried on equally heavy hinges 18, which may not be even partiallyconcealed except in a relatively expensive manner.

To this end there may be provided a pair of protective and decorativeplates or strips 30 of a length substantially equivalent to the heightof the doors 16, and which may overlie at least a portion of the hingeleaves or plates 18]; to thus partially conceal these plates andaccentuate the vertical line at the edge of the door or doors 16.Furthermore, a safe may in many instances have quite a Wide crack oropening 32 (see Fig. 2) at the meeting line of the door and safe wall orjamb. This crack 32 may be partially concealed by the overhangingedge'33 of the strip element 30, and by so doing the crack 32 may befurther sealed against water, smoke or other hazards during use.

Each of the edges of the plates or strips 3i) may be formed with arolled or otherwise turned in edge to 3 present a soft smooth feel andappearance when installed on the safe doors 16. One of the ilanged edges34 may -be adapted to tit along and' back under the chamfered edges 18dof the hinge plate 18h and thereby to be maintained in aligned position.The other or opposite edge of the strip 3%) may be formed with a doubleoffset anged edge 36, the rst offset portion 37 thereof being of a sizeto accommodate snugly the ends of the resilient fastener 25 when it ised in place. The second oifset portion 3d of the iianged edge 36 may beof such proportion as to permit the body portion of the strip 36 to liesubstantially parallel with the plane of the door i6 and at the sametime to lie over the hinge plate or leaf 18h and at least partiallyconceal it from View. The flanged edge 36 including portions 37 and 33also may be -parallel to and of equal depth or spacing away from thebody por* tion of the strip 36 as the flanged edge 34.

In order to fit the trim strip neatly over the hinge plate 18h, a pairof notches 39 may be cut into the edge of the strip 39, so that as theanged edge 34 is hooked under the chamfered edges 18d of the hingeplates 181; and the other ilangcd edge 38 may be set against the face ofthe door i6 with the notches 39 straddling the respective hinge platesor leaves 13b to facilitate the predetermined ultimate positioning ofthe trim plates or strips on the door.

While the protective and decorative plate or strip 30 is in the positiondescribed above, the fastener element 25 may be inserted into the spaceformed by the oifset portion 3'." of the hanged edge 35, which portion37, forms a channel to maintain the ends i3 of the resilient fastener ina maximum force exerting position to pull the flange 34 of the strip 3i)in its hooked position (see Fig, under the beveled hinge portion 18d bybearing or pushing against the oset portion 13e of the leaf 181) whichportion extends through or from the notch 39 of the strip Bil.

rthe fastener element 25 (see Fig. 4) may be formed of a resilientspring wire material and may have a preformed arcuate portion 13, at themiddle or central portion thereof with offset bends 41 and 42, ending inwings or fingers 43. This element is of sucient length to span the notch39 in the protective and decorative plate or strip Sii. The lengths ofthe leg portions 44 between the bends il and 42 and of the arcuateportion lil may be predetermined and Varied to accommodate yvarioussizes and combinations of hinges and decorative or protective stripsused in various sizes of safes and doors.

Thus, when a door of the safe 1t) is open and the trim strip 3f: is titover the hinges 1S as shown in Fig. l, the resilient fastener elementsmay then have their Ilingers i3 inserted in channel 37 across thenotches 39 and then snapped behind offsets 18C of the hinge leaves isbto invisibly and removably hold the strip in the position as shown inFig. 5.

The decorative plates or strips may be fabricated of stainless steel,aluminum, sheet steel, or other materials and may be painted, polished,chromium plated or otherwise finished to a predetermined quality orstyle. The spring wire fasteners may also be of a number of materialsand may be of a different form than that disclosed herein, the main andevident purpose being to provide a concealed fastening means for thetrim pieces substantially as described.

While there is described above the principles of this invention inconnection with specic apparatus, it is clearly to be understood thatthis description is made only by way of example and not as a limitationto the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is: Y

1. The combination of a trim element for a panel, a hinge plate for saidpanel, said element having parallel inturned side edge portions with anotch formed transversely through one of said edge portions to permitsaid element to tit said hinge plate, a bevelled edge along one side ofsaid hinge plate adapted to permit one of the inturned side edgeportions of said element to be hooked thereunder, and a resilientfastening element interposed between another side of the hinge plate andbridging said notch between the other inturned side edge portion of saidtrim element to hold said one inturned side edge portion hooked undersaid bevelled. edge to hold said element on said plate.

2. 'The combination of a decorative element for ay door, a plurality ofaligned hinge plates forV the door, said element having parallelinturned side edge portions with notches formed transversely through oneof said edge portions to permit said element to it said hinge plates, abevelled edge along one side of said hinge plates adapted to permit oneof the inturned side edge portions of said element to be hookedthereunder, and a plurality of resilient fasteners interposed betweenanother side of the hinge plates and bridging said notches between theother inturned side edge of said decorative element to hold said oneinturned edge portion hooked in said bevelled edge whereby saiddecorative element may be secured along the edge of the door tosubstantially conceal said plates.

3. A strip for covering at least a portion of a protruding oifset hingeleaf on a door comprising: a pair of parallel rearwardly and inwardlyturned flanged edges, one 'of said edges engaging the outer edgeY ofsaid leaf, said strip having a notch opposite said leaf engaging edge totit around said oiset of said leaf, and a resilient means bridging saidnotch behind said offset and fitting into the other iianged edge of saidstrip Vfor holding said' one edge into engagement with said outer edgeof said leaf and said other edge under said offset whereby said strip isheld in place over said portion of said hinge leaf.

4. A strip and hinge leaf according to claim 3 wherein said resilientmeans comprises a wire having a bowed central portion for engaging saidhinge leaf at said offset and ends which engage said other anged edgeonopposite sides of said notch.

5. Astrip and hinge leaf according to claim 3 wherein said outer edge ofsaid leaf is bevelled and said one hanged edge hooks into said bevel.

References Cited in the le of this patent i UNITED STATES PATENTS2,084,624 Place June 22, 1937 2,200,253 Atwood May 14, 1940 Y2,269,677Manofsky s Ian. 13, 1942 2,671,137 Zang Mar. 2, 1954

